Rider Canyon trailhead is twelve miles from highway US 89 and crosses sandy washes, moderately rough roads, and a public easement through private lands. This panorama is surrounded by close cliffs and blocks of limestone and sandstone. This is the trailhead entrance gap into Rider Canyon. The gap was formed as the cliff blocks have pulled away from the main mass of bedrock. Small cracks run parallel to the cliff face and slowly widen by forces of gravity, freeze-thaw action of water, and sand deposition into the cracks. These features are called gravity cracks. Eventually, gravity will win the contest and the huge blocks will fall into the canyon. Gravity cracks are evident all along the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. Many of them are evident by small cave entrances. The prevailing feature is that the cracks, caves, and sinks are all roughly parallel to the primary cliff face of the canyon. By hiking down through this steep gap a person can access the bottom of Rider Canyon and then down a relatively easy hike to House Rock Rapid on the Colorado River at river mile 17. GCPano.org